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Alberta restaurants set to open, with trepidation, as province allows 50 per cent capacity

Author of the article:

Liane Faulder

Publishing date:

May 7, 2020 • 4 minute read

Rob Filipchuk, owner of the Glass Monkey Gastropub in southwest Edmonton, and his children Layla and Noah, holds a plate of the Ukrainian Feast, one of the themed meals that is available for pick-up at his restaurant.Larry Wong/ Postmedia

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The Alberta government may be ready for restaurants to open in the phase one relaunch of the provincial economy, but Edmonton restaurateurs aren’t convinced they can make money, or attract customers, under new rules.

“The announcement last week definitely threw us a bit of a curve ball,” said Whyte Avenue restaurant owner Saylish Haas. “We’re not planning to open at half-capacity.”

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As early as May 14, restaurants, pubs and cafés will be allowed to open across the province, but only at 50 per cent capacity. Restaurant owners must ensure there are two metres between people, and no one may order at the bar.

But outside of those physical distancing measures announced April 30 by the premier, no further guidelines have been offered by the government for how eateries can keep customers and staff safe. The government has general workplace safety guidelines on its COVID-19 website, but nothing specific to the restaurant industry.

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“I think the guidelines are very unclear for our industry. Without that, winging it ourselves, we’re not eager to be the torch bearers,” said Haas, co-owner of Pip, MEAT and The Next Act.

Haas notes her staff will continue to offer takeout — sanctioned since the beginning of the restaurant shut-down in March and a popular choice among local eateries — at all three establishments. But she says opening the cozy, 30-seat Pip at half-capacity with two metres between tables would make three tables available to the public. And you can’t make money on three tables.

Rob Filipchuk of The Glass Monkey echoes those concerns. Opening at 50 per cent capacity “is not a practical solution.”

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“We worked so hard to pack the room every night and that was the only way to be financially viable,” he said, noting margins are slim in restaurants and anyone making a four per cent profit is considered to be doing well.

Further complicating a relaunch, says Filipchuk, is that many customers don’t feel comfortable going inside restaurants yet. He plans to continue operating his new business model, featuring a carefully re-tooled menu with a range of hand-crafted, takeout options — from jarred soups, stews and fresh bread, to theme meals and pre-prepped dinner kits you can cook at home.

Still, Filipchuk supports the relaunch, even with present restrictions.

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“It has to start somewhere,” he said. “We’ve been looking into a future without a timeline up until this point.”

COVID-19 has devastated business for Alberta’s roughly 11,200 restaurants. The province’s $12-billion food service industry — the province’s third-largest private sector employer — employed 150,000 workers before the pandemic. As of the end of March, 95,000 of those workers had been laid off, according to a survey by the advocacy group, Restaurants Canada.

Restaurant owners interviewed said federal government supports for business announced in recent weeks have helped keep their doors open, but changes are necessary.

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Mark von Schellwitz, Western Canada vice president of Restaurants Canada, said many restaurant owners find the federal government’s rent subsidy “very ineffective.” The Canadian Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance (CECRA) program reduces rent for commercial tenants by 75 per cent with a forgivable loan to the landlord, but relies on the landlord for buy-in. A new survey by Restaurants Canada found at least one out of five independent restaurant operators are dealing with a landlord who is not willing to provide rent relief, either through CECRA or some other arrangement.

Restaurants Canada has appealed to the government to extend COVID-19 subsidies, some of which are set to end in June.

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“Now is the time (restaurants) can use the wage relief to keep them going,” said von Schellwitz.

Edmonton chef/owner Paul Shufelt cut staff aggressively at his two restaurants — Woodshed Burgers on 124 Street and Workshop Eatery in Summerside — when closures were first announced. But while he now has 80 per cent of his staff back at work, the business model for one of his two establishments has changed.

Workshop Eatery was a fine-dining restaurant with full table service, where the soup stock was prepared from scratch with bones. But since COVID-19, Workshop Eatery has switched its focus to burgers for take-out, like its sister restaurant. It’s now called Woodshed South.

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Shufelt plans to reopen Woodshed on 124 Street to in-house customers at 40 per cent capacity after a deep clean of every surface and appliance. But he predicts it will be quite some time before his Workshop Eatery restaurant returns to it higher-end, eat-in-house concept.

“You go out for a nice evening to forget the stresses of life, and to relax,” said Shufelt. “So how will a hostess wearing a mask and gloves, and with a temperature probe to scan customers, make them feel welcome? It doesn’t connect right now.”

Edmonton’s once-burgeoning restaurant culture, which has won national accolades in recent years, is poised for a massive reset, even after pandemic fears fade.

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“It’s going to take a real toll on our local food scene that we’ve done a great job of building,” said Shufelt. “There’s going to be a lot more apprehension among chefs and restaurants about taking risks, and for banks with wanting to deal with restaurants.”

The new, boxed-up business model, fuelled by the necessity of takeout, may reflect a fundamental shift in the restaurant landscape. No one knows how long it will be before patrons are able to enjoy the busy, buzzy restaurant atmosphere, with a stylish menu, that once made dining out a treat.

“As much as I’d like to see people going out a little less, and spending a little more, I think it’s going to be the opposite,” said Shufelt. “With COVID and a sluggish economy, it’s going to be hard to sell a $45 steak and a bottle of wine. It’s going to be a $15 sandwich and a $5 happy hour beer.”

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